Sugar Busters Diet: What You Need to Know

If you came across a diet book authored by three doctors and a former CEO of a Fortune 500 company, chances are you'd think it was pretty credible. "Sugar Busters," published in 1995, was written by Morrison C. Bethea, a cardiothoracic surgeon; Samuel A. Andrews, an endocrinologist; Luis A. Balart, a gastroenterologist; and H. Leighton Steward, a former CEO [source: Zelman]. The Sugar Busters diet has a lot of power behind it -- but does it work?

Sugar Busters was created in the midst of a low-carbohydrate-diet trend. The authors set out to create a diet plan that could be maintained as a lifestyle, not just a quick fix. The diet cuts back on the amount of "bad carbohydrates" a person consumes, targeting processed grain products and refined sugar as two sources of bad carbs [source: Sugar Busters].

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Sugar Busters uses the glycemic index to help determine if foods are good for the diet or not. A food has a high glycemic index if it breaks down quickly into simple sugars that instigate higher insulin levels from the body. Higher glycemic foods equate to bad carbs -- the diet eliminates them because they increase a person's insulin levels. Increased insulin levels are said to force our body to conserve its sugar and fat while also making cholesterol.

Sugar Busters claims that it will decrease insulin levels, aid intestinal functions, lower cholesterol and encourage weight loss. It also states that followers of the diet will decrease their chances of Type II diabetes and obesity. Though it's a diet authored by a collection of doctors, there haven't been any official studies that prove or disprove its claims.